1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless networks, and more specifically to reducing power consumption in an access point of a wireless network.
2. Related Art
A wireless local area network (WLAN) generally refers to a wireless network, which facilitates multiple devices to communicate with each other over a wireless medium. The devices communicate with each other according to corresponding standards/protocols defined for the WLAN. An example of such protocols/standards is defined in the IEEE 802.11 family of standards.
A WLAN typically contains wireless stations and access points. Wireless stations refer to end devices, which send/receive packets for communication with other wireless stations and/or other devices external to the WLAN. Access points on the other hand refer to devices that are generally intended for receiving and forwarding/switching packets from/to the wireless stations and/or devices external to the WLAN.
Operation as an access point (AP) entails at least some of features such as forwarding/switching noted above, sending periodic beacons (so that the wireless stations can associate with the access point for sending/receiving packets), and in general, to communicate using packet formats designed for operation as an access point. As is well-known in the relevant arts, an AP is an entity that has station functionality and provides access to distribution services (DS) via a wireless medium (WM) for associated wireless stations (clients).
There is a general need to reduce power consumption in such access points of a WLAN.
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